O GNT faz o seu gênero? Uma abordagem cultural do gênero televisivo e de suas relações com identidades de gênero

Abstract

This doctoral thesis investigates the structural changes in the brand identity of the Brazilian pay-TV GNT in its path of appropriation of values linked to gender identities. With an emphasis on its cultural practice aspect, brand identity is conceived as the result of a complex play of interaction between many discourses and practices that unites both the fields of production and reception in specific political, economic and cultural contexts. Based on this conception, this work wagers on articulation between the notions of modes of address— regarded as a specific style of producing for television and practice of subjectfication— television genre, gender identities and the map of mediations proposed by Jesús MartínBarbero. The analysis parts from an intertwined set of TV shows on GNT (Saia Justa, Manhattan Connection, Contemporâneo, Superbonita, Papo de Segunda, and Tempero de Família), chosen due to the interlocutions and tensions they express between television genres and gender identities. However, in addition to the TV shows, the study focuses on a broader corpus that includes other productions circling around and relating to this set of shows, vignettes, advertising campaigns and articles published on the GNT institutional website, testimonials given by the management team of the channel and TV show producers in journalistic reports, and television reviews. Considering the channel has had a vast course of action in Brazil, year ranges that contribute to the investigation of the research question are the following: 2002/2003, 2010/2011, 2015, and 2017. Inspired by authors who have reflected on the historicity of communication processes, the year ranges are analysed stemming from the emphasis on the procedural and historical dimension of the GNT brand identity construction. The research findings show that reporting to a feminine universe has translated into a television of intimacy, expressed in the TV set designs, forms of conversation, cast selection, topics discussed, and in reference to an urban, dynamic and cosmopolitan context at the same time. Family, beauty, employment, financial independence, and more recently diversity and activisms, are values that have stood out on the TV channel over the examined time framework.